Robert (Knollys) Knowles (1585 - 1613)

Born 12 Jul 1585 in Faldingworth, Lincolnshire, England

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Biography

Robert Knowles was baptised at Faldingworth, Lincolnshire on 12 Jul 1585.^[1]

Previous Biography

This biography belongs to Robert Knollys KB (1550-1619)

From David Nash Ford's "Royal Berkshire History" (See [1])

"Robert had been appointed Usher of the Mint in the Tower of London on 5th February 1578 and by 1587 was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. He inherited the office of Keeper of Sion House upon the death of his father in 1596 and, the following year, accompanied his nephew, the Earl of Essex, on the 'Islands Voyage' to the Azores. They attacked the Spanish but defied the Queen's orders by pursuing the treasure fleet rather than ensuring the Spanish royal navy was disabled. Robert became a key member of the Earl's entourage and, later that year, is recorded in Finisterre, carrying messages from him to the Queen. However, unlike his brother, Francis, he was never implicated in the infamous Essex Rebellion.

Robert was quite a sportsman. He used to play bowls against the Earl of Shrewsbury and was famous in the tilt-yards, where he was so badly hurt in 1602 that it was thought he would not recover. However, by the following year he had been made an esquire of the Body and on 24th July, he was created a Knight of the Bath. He did eventually die after a fall from his horse, not in the jousts, but while riding on his brother's estate at Caversham in January 1619. Sir Robert and his wife had no sons, but two daughters: Lettice the wife of the Sheriff of Norfolk, Framlingham Gawdy of West Harling, and Frances (sometimes mistakenly called Catherine) the wife of Sir Charles Vaughan, eventually of Porthamel."

[Note: Robert's listed son, immigrant Henry Knollys, may not be his. Although there are multiple family trees on Ancestry.com that make that connection, there is no record for Henry's DOB which mentions Robert on it there.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NY32-MGQ : 20 March 2020), Robert Knowles, 1585.

Henry Knollys, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 1500-1714, Volume II K[2]